Raffles Jakarta really push the boundary of what it takes to show excellent services. Its true, and here's why. For five-stars hotels, turndown service is a usual gesture. What is it? It is when the housekeeping staffs do additional room service in the evening - preparing the bed for the guests to easily tuck in. Then, there are hotels that raise the bar of how they do the turndown service by providing additional services such as preparing small snacks, drinks, etc.

Ready to sleep?

The turndown service we received was exceptionally nice. Beside turning down the bed linen, they provided us bedtime stories tucked into our bed, prepared a couple of apples and bottled water, and set the hotel slippers beside our comfy king-sized bed. Such treatment really gave us a good night sleep and a good night dream!

Or finish a couple of apples first?

One of the bedtime stories provided - a popular Indonesian folklore (Rara Jonggrang).

Breakfast - let's talk about breakfast. Raffles Jakarta provides a good spread of breakfast, ranging from Asian to American styled breakfast. They even have a Show Kitchen area for some à la carte menu that is cooked personally by request. FYI, bacon (pork or beef) is available only from the Show Kitchen to make sure that it is always served juicy and tender. I ordered Brioche French Toast - its so amazing that I ordered it for the next day too. The breakfast spread taste pretty good, especially the pastries! Overall, the breakfast is so fulfilling!

The notorious Brioche French Toast topped with banana slice and garnished with various berries.

Have I mentioned the butler service they provide? A personal butler will be assigned to each hotel room. The butler caters every single needs of the hotel's guests to the most detailed things possible. We could call the butler anytime and they will be ready for us. But I really love how we communicate through written notes I left before we went somewhere else. Then, by the time we got back to our rooms, my notes will be replied and my requests would be done!

One of the notes left by the butler. What a nice handwriting!

Rooms were always cleaned well and looked pretty neat every time we got back, especially the bathroom with all the amenities replenished.

Bath salts and dried jasmine replenished inside the metal cup for a rejuvenating bath. The scent always left me relaxed.

Small towels and toiletries to pamper our skins.

Asprey toiletries - great fragrance and refreshing!

Above all of the extraordinary services Raffles Jakarta provide, there is a couple deeds they done that blew my mind away. (1) When I was asking for a permission from the security officer to use DSLR for taking cityscapes images at night in front of their property, he had stated that it was usually prohibited, but then he asked the head security if it is possible since I was staying there. Thinking that I would create much hassle and trouble, I decided to head back to my room. Then, I realised that they followed me and later asked me to wait for the permission. Shortly, the duty manager directly allowed me to do as I please. While capturing some photos, the security officer even showed superb hospitality by chit-chatting with me.

Voila - the result of the permission I earn through the hotel hospitality.

(2) During check-out, there was a miscalculation of our spending - we purchased an additional breakfast buffet package which was not listed on our invoice. Usually, other hotels (in my experience) would make us wait and bill us a new invoice - an expected procedure which I would comply with. But that time, the receptionist let us consider the mishap as a gift for us. I was truly impressed by the lovely act they did.

By those memorable experiences, I really felt the emotional luxury through Raffles Jakarta hospitality. And they would want us to just call it Raffles. What a wonderful stay!